Lucas Grogan
We are thrilled to share Lucas Grogan’s monumental commissioned work has been unveiled at the library Phrontisterion at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Hobart.
‘A LIBRARY (Imagine Sisyphus Happy)’ was commissioned by MONA as part of the new underground library, Phrontisterion. The space houses David Walsh’s collection of more than 30,000 books and related objects, including Shakespeare’s First Folio, a first edition of Lolita, and signed editions by Umberto Eco, J.G. Ballard and Hunter S. Thompson.
Made up of 27 panels that span nearly 10 metres by 5 metres, this expansive library is a verdant tidal wave of thoughts, opinions, memories, jokes, and references to MONA’s collection.
About this work, Lucas shares: “A LIBRARY (Imagine Sisyphus Happy) was commissioned by MONA as part of the new underground library, Phrontisterion. The space houses David Walsh’s collection of more than 30,000 books and related objects, including Shakespeare’s First Folio, a first edition of Lolita, and signed editions by Umberto Eco, J.G. Ballard and Hunter S. Thompson.
My library paintings began as a simple way to gather the contents of my journals into one place: jokes, quotes, ideas, opinions and reflections. A meeting point where the serious collided with the ridiculous, and where interior life met projection. It quickly became apparent that these works functioned as both time capsules and portraits. We are not what we look like, but rather how we think, what we feel, and what we love or loathe. The libraries operate like distilleries, where sweet meets sour, academic meets frivolous, and questions occasionally find answers.
Since my first exhibition in 2003, I have bought a glossy art book to commemorate the occasion, inscribing the year and signing it “XLG”. Over time this evolved into buying a book to mark any significant or joyful event. The collection has become one of my most treasured possessions: a working library of resources I use daily in the studio, each carrying a sentimental reason for its inclusion.
I have also kept a diary since childhood. These days they are process journals, almost entirely text-based, filled with short poems, headlines, quotations and stray ideas. I love the way unrelated thoughts sit alongside one another. They become chaotic poems, diving deep down one rabbit hole before immediately swerving in another direction and contradicting themselves. What ends up on the painted book spines often depends entirely on my mood. Sometimes the news feels apocalyptic; other times I become embarrassingly sentimental. The books reflect this. I have found it best to distribute each mood evenly across the shelves.
Working within a deliberately limited palette, I wanted each spine to feel like a volume within a sprawling, disordered encyclopedia. Over time this developed into a form of camouflage. The eye struggles to settle on any single title before being distracted by another. I suspect that the title that first leaps out at you is either the one you most need to read, or perhaps the one that was written about you all along.
During COVID, as people broadcast from their homes, I became fascinated by the bookshelves behind them. Some carefully positioned their own publications; others seemed eager to demonstrate intelligence, taste or cultural capital. The objects nestled among the books often revealed even more: Star Wars figurines, Hermannsburg pottery, feathers collected from the street. Bookshelves became accidental self-portraits.
Historically, owning books signified wealth, power and knowledge. While large domestic libraries have become less common, books still function as markers of class, status and aspiration. A Tom Ford monograph on a coffee table, a Keith Haring book supporting a vase, or Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem gathering dust in thekitchen. I am fascinated by the way bookshelves simultaneously document and perform identity. They offer clues about who someone is, and perhaps who they would like to be.
When David asked me to create this work, I nearly shat my pants. Equal parts excitement and dread. He visited my studio while I was working on a series of exclusively blue libraries and casually mentioned that he had already chosen green carpet for the Phrontisterion. “Yep,” I said, “love that.” MONA gave me access to its collection, allowing me to incorporate objects from across its holdings. Many were ancient, fascinating and, unfortunately for my purposes, overwhelmingly brown. So I adjusted what I could, altered scale where necessary, and added flourishes along the way.
Ultimately it took a year to complete this work for MONA. 27 panels shipped down and trimmed to fit with crossed fingers. Now it’s there permanently at the end of a rabbit warren- a dark forest - a verdant tidal wave of thoughts, opinions, memories and jokes."
Phrontisterion Library, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, is open Thursday to Monday, 10am – 5pm, with access included with museum entry.
Lucas Grogan, A LIBRARY (Imagine Sisyphus Happy) (artwork detail), 2025-26, acrylic on hoop pine ply, commissioned for MONA library, Phrontisterion, Hobart. Photography by Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy of the Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
We’re delighted to present ‘Summer in the Stockroom’, an exhibition of new works from the Hugo Michell Gallery stockroom.
Featuring pieces by Clara Adolphs, David Booth [Ghostpatrol], James Dodd, Bridie Gillman, Sam Gold, Lucas Grogan, Richard Lewer, and Sera Waters, the exhibition highlights the artists’ ongoing material interests and the continuity of their ideas.
This year’s ‘Summer in the Stockroom’ invites visitors to a chance to see thoughtful, curated presentation of works that have been waiting for the right moment to be seen.
This exhibition will be on display from 5 December 2025 to 29 January 2026.
Hugo Michell Gallery is open Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm and Saturdays 11am-4pm until Friday 19th December 2025 after which the gallery will be open by appointment.
Enquiries to mail@hugomichellgallery.com
Pictured: Selected works by Clara Adolphs, David Booth [Ghostpatrol], James Dodd, Bridie Gillman, Sam Gold, Lucas Grogan, Richard Lewer, and Sera Waters at Hugo Michell Gallery, 2025. Photography by Sam Roberts
Fiona McMonagle
Eve
Lucas Grogan
A Travel Guide
Lucas Grogan’s solo exhibition ‘Long Story Short’ opens on the 29th of February at Maitland Regional Gallery!
“Lucas Grogan’s work spans multiple disciplines including quilts, murals and painting. As the title suggests, Grogan’s sense of humour has permeated his bold, fastidiously patterned, highly graphic, pun-filled signature blue artworks that reflect his personal experiences in a range of media. This exhibition will include painting, embroidery, quilts and a large immersive wall installation including a mural to be created by the artist during the installation of the exhibition. Other artworks in the exhibition will be borrowed from a number of private and public collections including the National Gallery of Australia. For the first time these artworks as selected by the artist will be brought together to be shown in the artists home town of Maitland.”
Exhibition runs February 22 to May 17.
Hugo Michell Gallery invites you to the opening of WORD, an ambitious group exhibition presenting text-based work from nearly 30 artists.
Featuring: Abdul Abdullah, Roy Ananda, Brook Andrew, Narelle Autio, David Booth [Ghostpatrol], Jon Campbell, James Dodd, Will French, Tony Garifalakis, Lucas Grogan, Kate Just, Anastasia Klose, Sue Kneebone, Alice Lang, Richard Lewer, Sophia Nuske, Nana Ohnesorge, Trent Parke, Philjames, Kenny Pittock, Toby Pola, Tom Polo, Elvis Richardson, Derek Sargent, Paul Sloan, Sera Waters, Gerry Wedd, Min Wong, and Paul Yore.
From raw mark-making to a choreographed line, text allows us to transfer ideas and connect universally. It is a coded form of communication that negotiates language and dialect. WORD presents a library of pithy phrases and sensitive secrets that span the entire gallery.
Please join us on Thursday the 30th of August to celebrate.
Hugo Michell Gallery invites you to the opening of Lucas Grogan’s Thoughts & Prayers, and South, North to Indented Head featuring Tia Ansell, Matt Arbuckle, and Gabriel Curtin, curated by Richard Lewer, on Wednesday, May 24 from 6pm!
Lucas Grogan manipulates a controlled palette, pairing an expert use of line and pattern with an acerbic wit. His pithy phrases and vignettes of everyday life make acute observations and connections across a broad spectrum of experiences.
Grogan’s work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Artbank, Deutsche Bank, Wesfarmers, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Ararat Regional Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ballarat, and private collections nationally and internationally. He has been widely commissioned for public murals both nationally and internationally.
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South, North to Indented Head, curated by Richard Lewer features three Melbourne-based painters, all born internationally (NZ & UK). Working predominantly in painting and weaving, Tia Ansell’s practice is bound to the idealised nature of techniques of a craftsman and focuses on knowledge gained through touch and movement – the intimate connection between hand and head. For Matt Arbuckle the qualities of a found object present stimulus for creative expansion; a textured ground, a scuffed scrawl or a folded spine elicits a responsive gesture. Presenting a medley of imagery and textures, Gabriel Curtin constructs an arena where new and familiar thoughts coexist.
Please join us in celebrating these the launch of these two exhibitions on Wednesday, May 24!
Slipstitch a touring exhibition curated by Dr. Belinda von Mengersen has arrived at Latrobe Regional Gallery. Featuring the work of Lucas Grogan and Sera Waters, Slipstitch considers the growing pursuit of figurative embroidery in contemporary art. Giving reference to embroidery as a traditional tool for autobiographical story telling the exhibition includes a diverse group of emerging and established artists.
“In recent years contemporary artists in Australia have embraced embroidery for its capacity for poignant and reflective narrative. The re-emergence of embroidery is part of a broader questioning of the hierarchy of materials that has gained momentum since the 1990s. Embroidered objects have often been read literally and relegated within a domestic framework. These new contemporary works break down preconceptions by exploring what embroidery can become once it transcends the regularity of pattern and decoration. Historically, embroidery like the Bayeux Tapestry, was used as a tool for personal or political narratives. Slipstitch aims to introduce a contemporary audience to the capacity of embroidery for drawing and communication in this mode.”
This exhibition has been touring regionally since 2015 and will open in Bendigo on the 28th of May and run till the 26th of June you can find out more about this exhibition here.
Hugo Michell Gallery is thrilled to announce that it will exhibit the work of the following artists at Sydney Contemporary 2015:
Tony Garifalakis
Lucas Grogan
William Mackinnon
Trent Parke
& more
Sydney Contemporary 2015 will be held at Carriageworks from 10 – 13 September 2015.
Hugo Michell Gallery will be at stand D-01!
Image: Tony Garifalakis, Dream, 2012, from The Affirmations, adhesive vinyl on paper shooting target, 87.5 x 56.5 cm.